Claustrophobia
by UnwrittenPages
Summary: "The irony that you are always my savior." Caroline's seemingly fragile life is saved by Klaus, yet again and realization dawns on her. One-Shot.


AN: Here is a AU scene where Klaus saves Caroline and she starts to realize him more. I kind of found this story randomly in my folder so I tweaked it and edited it and voila a one shot story! Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Do not own. Vampire Diaries. Or characters. Le sigh.

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The saccharine scent of blood plagued the air, plunging them into a sea of blood. He heard screams, whimpers and cries of agony echoing through his ears, but none mattered except one. The softest whimper, the quietest protest in the midst of all the ear piercing screams caught his attention.

_He found her_.

A sadistic man stood in front of her holding onto the wooden stake protruding out of her delicate body, dripping with _her_ blood. A surge of anger rushed through his body, igniting every muscle in him and in a blink of an eye – _thud_. The man's body dropped to the ground with a hole on his chest exposing a hollow cavity and Klaus standing over him, glaring at the dead man with his heart crushed in his hands.

She chuckled.

"Great, I'm hallucinating now. I'm seeing a dead man." Caroline muttered breathlessly under her hoarse voice. She's lost so much blood, the line between reality and fantasy blurred. Her grotesque body was dripping with blood and it reeked of the bitter poisoning smell of vervain, enough to make _Klaus_ cringe.

"Technically speaking love, I am dead but I am no hallucination." Klaus replied and Caroline's eyes widened. They darted at him through her lifeless hair, hanging over her tainted face. He was submerged into her blue eyes that were drowned in sorrow and misery. The being in front of him was not the Caroline he once knew and once wanted to bask in her light. This _person_ lacked the light, lacked the life and was soulless. His chest tightened in an unfamiliar way looking at her pitiful state.

"They staked you." She stated softly, trying to register the current event – Klaus, in front of her, alive.

"I'm quite invincible sweetheart." Klaus said smugly. Once again, she chuckled. But this time it was a dark, hollow chuckle that sent shivers down his spine. Her dry lips form a small shadow of a smile.

"The irony that you are always my savior." Caroline said. He's _almost_ scared that such girl could hold such darkness but he despised it more because darkness and demons are not allowed to enter such a pure creature.

"Well, I must say it is getting rather tedious, saving you that is. You have a knack to getting yourself in danger love." Klaus said. Truly, he adored being her savior, he relished the moment of being _her_ hero because he got to see her slowly falter and fall for him.

"Then what are you waiting for?" She asked, picking her head up groggily, "Save me already." Her hoarse voice dropped into a breath but it was a silent plea, crying out towards him as the tears accumulated in her eyes.

Klaus removed the chains from her hands and she fell into his arms like an inert rag doll. She cried softly into his chest, burying her head into him, refusing to look at her surroundings – scared to. Unintentionally, she clung onto him like he was her lifeline, to a point when her knuckles turned pale.

He took her to his house.

He cautiously placed her in his bed before pulling the covers up. Her face remained emotionless and she had yet spoken a single word, she managed to transform into an inanimate object. He pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and his fingers trailed down her cheeks, caressing them softly. She oddly leaned into his touch because really, she enjoyed the feel of anything but metal and wooden jabbing at her skin. He stood up to leave her to rest but she caught his hand, intertwining them with hers.

"Stay, please." She pleaded.

Klaus slid beside her placing a comforting hand on her back and the other still locked with hers. Caroline was enchanted by his scent of woods and musk, enjoying the strange sense of familiarity. His soothing fingers drew patterns on her back and he felt her muscles relaxing as she slowly fell into a…deep…dark…slumber…

"Agh!" Caroline jolted up screaming, causing Klaus to jump up staring confusingly at a frantic Caroline. She crawled back towards the head board and had her knees up and her head dug between them. Her head was shaking furiously as she started to shout out incoherent rants.

"Caroline." Klaus leaned in to touch her but she kicked him away, shoved him, pushed him but he refused to let go.

"I can't breathe." He caught her say and noticed how her breathing became erratic. Her lung was compressing, her heart constricting and her mind plagued with the horrid images of her torturers smirking faces. Her ears echoed the sounds of gun shots, the sound of her bones breaking, her flesh burning away. The walls suddenly closed into her and she felt trapped…she didn't like feeling trapped.

"Caroline, what is the matter?" Klaus asked having a death grip on her arm.

"I can't think… I can't see…only their faces…" She muttered through her tears.

"Whose faces?" ruminants

"Damon, the wolves, my dad, Alaric, the towns' people. Those small spaces they kept me in. I can't…I just can't take it anymore…I can't." Caroline cried out.

Klaus pulled her into an embrace, having a secure hold over her head – firm yet gentle and caring – shielding her from the outside world, "Shhh, it's okay, I'm here now. You're safe. You're safe." He said softly into her ears and he felt her once shaking body relax now, "I will not let anything happen to you love, _ever_."

His words struck through her. It scared her how assuring it sounded because she's never heard such determination from a man towards her. But for now she tried to breath – _inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale_.

Moments after she calmed, she pushed away from him slightly and stared into his eyes, searching for a lie in his eyes but saw nothing but the raw truth. Her hands crawled up to his rugged cheeks and stroked them softly.

"Why are you doing all of this?" She asked tilting her head to the side in confusion and he smiled at her.

"Isn't it obvious love?" He grabbed her hand and placed little kisses on her knuckles sending a wave of electricity through her, "You have captivated me."

In a moment of pure insanity driven by curiosity, she cupped his face and placed her rosy lips on his. It was a soft, delicate and chaste kiss yet it held such fiery and passion that it overflowed their unstable bodies. She pulled away and he looked at her with puzzlement fogging his expressions.

"I'm sorry." She said obviously flustered by her actions. She pulled away but Klaus had a strong grip on her wrist to keep her in place, "I didn't—I just… I don't know why I did that." Caroline stuttered and a smile split across Klaus' face, "Why are you smiling like a creep?" Caroline asked and he couldn't help but chuckle. Their bodies were so close she could feel the vibration of his laugh on her own which made the whole breathing ordeal slightly harder.

"Oh Caroline, the things you do to me." He said. He saw her open her mouth to probably reply with one of her smart remarks but he stopped her and kissed her, drawing circles on her cheeks. An unfamiliar happiness ignited in him when he felt her smile into the kisses.


End file.
